By Leonard Kamugisha Akida,
BUDAPEST
Ukrainian High Jump star, Yaroslava Mahuchikh on Sunday won a Gold Medal after she jumped 2.01 meters (6 feet, 7 inches), unbeatable record at the World Athletics Championship in Budapest Hungary.
According to sportsmen and women, the win was a significant symbol of hope to her war-torn country and defiance to those who would see it ruined. This is the country’s first world title since 2013.
“Finally, I have my gold medal,” she said of the country’s first world title since 2013, when the meet was held in Moscow. “And it’s really extra important for my country right now.”
Mahuchikh’s final jump came only seconds after hurdles champion Femke Bol of The Netherlands, who fell and cost her country a medal at the end of the mixed 4×400 relay on opening night, overcame a 20-meter deficit with about 80 to go to give the Dutch the win in the women’s version of the race.
Watching Bol reel in a British runner, then a Jamaican one, then cross the finish line in the lead, was easily the most outlandishly exciting 20 seconds of the nine-day meet in Budapest, which is only a short plane flight from Ukraine’s capital of Kyiv.
But nothing compared to the theatre Mahuchikh delivered in her two hours on the stage. That she was here at all was a testament to her courage, persistence and the assistance she’s received from far and wide.
Speaking to reports about her victory, the 21-year-old, wearing eyeliner colored the same blue and yellow as her country’s flag, said she was forced to leave quickly from her hometown of Dnipro when the war started. She said she saw artillery shells raining down as she road in the car on her way out.
She has trained in Germany and, most recently, in Belgium, where her mother, sister and niece are also living. Her father remains in Dnipro. Her grandma passed away in February back in Ukraine.
She has only been home once — at the beginning of this year — and hopes to go again when track season is over. Dnipro had been relatively safe at the outset of the fighting, but it has since become a target in the war.
“It’s really difficult mentally,” she said. “But I have big support from my coach, fans, friends. They tell me you represent our country and you will come back to us.”
Mahuchikh was one of 29 Ukrainian athletes who qualified for worlds in Hungary this week where, the night before, the stadium was bathed in yellow-and-blue light. This marked the first gold medal for Ukraine and the second overall, adding to a silver won by Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk two nights earlier in the triple jump.
Mahuchikh sealed her win after jumping 2 centimeters higher than Australia’s Eleanor Patterson, who beat her last year at worlds in Eugene, Oregon. With the gold medal secure, Mahuchikh had the bar set to 2.07 to try for a personal best.
After missing twice, she waited for the end of Bol’s amazing comeback to make her last attempt. With Bol and her teammates in a dogpile celebrating on the track, Mahuchikh failed to clear.
Still, it was a win, and a few moments later, she was smiling, holding her country’s flag aloft and waiting for her medal. Her story could be among the most poignant next year at the Paris Olympics, where some sports are considering allowing Russians in — but not track.
“I don’t think about the future or what might happen,” she said. “It’s right now that is important.”
